Ivan Koniev
, ( ) |religion = |birth = |death = |cause of death = |occupation = Soldier, |spouse = Twice married |political party = |military branch = Imperial Russian Army ( ); Red Army ( ) }} |military branch = Red Army ( ) |cause of death = ( ) |type of appearance = Direct }} ) |type of appearance = Direct}} of Lithuania |cause of death = }}}} |cause of death = |type of appearance = Posthumous reference}} Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (or Konev) (Russian: Иван Степанович Конев) (28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973), was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, including the Battle of Kursk. His forces liberated much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin (although it was his long time rival, Georgy Zhukov, who was given the honor of capturing the city by Joseph Stalin). After the war, he was head of the military forces occupying East Germany, as well as Allied High Commission for Austria. However, in 1950, he was demoted to Commander of the Carpathian Military District, a move that was part of Stalin's policy of relegating popular wartime commanders to obscure posts so they would not become threats to his position. Upon Stalin's death in 1953, Koniev regained favor with the Soviet government. He aligned himself with Nikita Khrushchev, and was given the task of overseeing the trial of Lavrenty Beria, the head of the NKVD. In 1956 he was named Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact. Shortly after his appointment he led the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution. Ivan Koniev in The Man With the Iron Heart Ivan Koniev's (1897-1945) First Ukrainian Front was not allowed the same spoils as Georgy Zhukov in the taking of Berlin. He was still quite bitter about this, just days after Berlin fell, when he was killed by a German Freedom Front "Werewolf", who blew up Koniev's car with a panzerfaust.The Man With the Iron Heart, pgs. 20-23. Ivan Koniev in Worldwar Ivan Koniev was a Red Army commander during World War II and the battle against the Race's Conquest Fleet. He was considered the Soviet Union's second-best military commander after only Georgy Zhukov. However, he was not cleared to know about the Soviet explosive-metal bomb project until he attended a strategy conference with Zhukov, Joseph Stalin, and Vyacheslav Molotov to plan the defence of Moscow in 1943.Tilting the Balance, pgs. 483-486. Ivan Koniev in The War That Came Early Ivan Koniev (1897-1944) was appointed the military governor of Lithuania after the country was annexed by the Soviet Union in the closing days of the Second World War in 1944. Koniev was assassinated by a pair of Lithuanian nationalists (one armed with a submachine gun, the other with a bomb) as he traveled by car from his residence to his office in Kaunas, Lithuania's capital. While the Lithuanian government-in-exile applauded the act, the Soviet Union responded by declaring martial law and launching harsh reprisals.Last Orders, pgs. 373-374. Literary comment Koniev's death appears to be based on the OTL assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. Ivan Koniev in ''Joe Steele'' Marshall Ivan Koniev was one of Premier Leon Trotsky's senior military advisers at the Basra Conference in October 1943. At the banquet held at the successful completion of the conference, the participants drank heavily and gave toasts. Koniev toasted "Death to the Hitlerites" to general approval.''Joe Steele'', pg. 282, HC. Koniev was the supreme Soviet military commander on the Eastern Front in Europe and successfully prosecuted the war. He halted the German advance, then drove them back out of the Soviet Union, through eastern and central Europe and into their homeland. After Hitler committed suicide, remaining German forces surrendered to the Soviets and Marshall Koniev signed the surrender papers in Berlin on behalf of Trotsky.Ibid, pg. 299. Ivan Koniev in "The Phantom Tolbukhin" Ivan Koniev (1897 - c. 1937) was one of several Red Army generals who were purged by Joseph Stalin between 1936 and 1938. In 1947, years after German forces had driven deeply into the Soviet Union's territory, guerrilla leader Fedor Tolbukhin reflected on those purges, and realized they had virtually assured his country's defeat.See, e.g., Counting Up, Counting Down, pg. 114. References Category:Generals Category:Soldiers of the Russian Revolution Category:Victims of Terrorism